Time-mechanism for operating electric switches or the like



April 3, 1934. w. SELLIN TIME MECHANISM FO R OPERATING ELECTRIC SWITCHES OR THE LIKE Filed March 3, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR:

April 3, 1934. w. SELLIN 1,953,511

TIME MECHANISM FOR OPERATING ELECTRIC SWITCHES OR THE LIKE Filed March 3, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.6

4 45: 16 I Z 44 30 5s! v 37 64 32 "5e 11 3 64 35 1 g 46 I INVENTORJ Patented Apr. 3, 1934 Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Walter Sellin, Schramberg, Germany Application March 3, 1932, Serial No. 596,463 In Germany April 29, 1929 3 Claims.

My invention relates to a time-mechanism for automatically opening an electric switch, closing the valve of a gas-pipe or the like when a predetermined short time-period, for example of up to 60 minutes, has elapsed after the switch or the valve has been closed or openedrespectively by hand. The main object of my invention is to provide an improved construction of such mechanisms comprising. in combination a time-movement driven by a spiral spring, an auxiliary motor driven by a second spiral spring, a device for winding up this spring, a tilting device operated by said auxiliary motor and moving the switchor the valve, means for starting and stopping the time-movement and means for locking the tilting device. The combination of these parts is such that in setting the indicator of the time-mechanism to the predetermined time -period the springs of the time-movement and of the auxiliary motor will be wound up and the tilting device will be prepared for operation, that after releasing the tilting device by hand the same will tilt over so as to close the switch or to open the valve and to start the time-movement, and that when the determined time-period, during which the time-movement will run down, has elapsed, the auxiliary motor will be released by the time-movement and will also run down and move parts of the tilting device so as to allow this device to tilt back, to open the switch or to close the valve, and to stop the time-movement.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate my invention and forms part of this specification, Figs. 1 and'2 are rear views of the whole mechanism is combination with an electric switch in different positions of the parts, Fig. 3 is a front view of a part of the mechanism in a position corresponding to that shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a front view of the same part in adiiferent position, Fig. 5 is a rear view of a modification of the main part of the mechanism, Fig. 6 is a side view of a part'of the mechanism, Fig. 7 is a detail vertical sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of- E, Fig. 6, Fig. 8 is a side view of a further part, and Fig. 9 is a front view of this part.

The whole mechanism is supported by a frame 1 formed by two parallel plates secured together in spaced relation by a number of bolts 2. The mechanism is shown unincased, but in fact it is enclosed within-a casing like that of an ordinary alarm-clock having at the front a circular dial a: (Fig. 3) which may be of the same graduation as that of an ordinary clock-dial, but may have for example the twelve Figures 5, 10, 15 60 indicating the corresponding number of minutes, instead of the usual Figures 1 to 12 indicating the hours. The electric switch is of the knife-type and enclosed in a box 3 supporting the frame 1.

The time movement is constructed as follows:

A shaft 4 (Figs. 1 to 5) is journaled in the plates of the frame 1 and projects through a central hole of the dial :r. This shaft carries a spiral spring 5 (Figs. 3 and 4) which has its inner end attached to the shaft 4 and its outer end attached to a stud on the front frame-plate and which is arranged to be wound up by turning the shaft 4 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3. The shaft 4 may be turned by hand by means of an indicator 6 mounted on the square front end of this shaft and provided with lugs 611 (Fig. 3) projecting forwards at one edge of each of its two arms. A gear 7 (Fig. 2) is loosely mounted on the shaft 4, and two friction discs 8 are fixedly mounted thereon and are resting on the sides of the gear 7. In the frame 1 there are also mounted a balancewheel 9 (Figs. 1 and 2), an anchor-escapement 10 constructed'and operating like that of an ordinary alarm clock, and a train of gear 11 which connects the pallet-wheel of the escapement 10 to the gear 7. On the rear end of the shaft 4 is fixedly mounted an arm 12 (Figs. 1 and 5).

The construction of the said auxiliary motor is as follows: A second shaft 13 (Figs. 1 to 7) which is also journaled in the plates of the frame 1 carriesa second spiral spring 14 (Figs. 3, 4, 6 and 7). This spring has its inner end attached to the shaft 13 and its outer end attached to the connecting bolt 2 situated below the said shaft, and is arranged to be Wound up by turning the shaft 13 in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3. A gear 15 is loosely mounted on the shaft 13, and a friction disc 16 (Figs. 3 to 7) is fixedly mounted thereon and is resting on one side of the gear 15. On the shaft 13 is also fixedly mounted a ratchetwheel 56 (Figs. 6 and 7), and on the gear 15 is pivotally mounted a pawl 57 which engages the wheel 56 under the action of a curved spring 58 having. its one end attached to said wheel and its other end resting on said pawl.

In the plates of the frame 1 there are also journaled three further shafts l7, l8 and 19 (Figs. 1, 2, 6 and 7). On the shaft 17 are fixedly mounted a pinion 59 (Figs. 6 and 7) engaging the gear 15 and a'pallet-wheel 20 (Fig. 1), and on the shaft 18 is fixedly mounted an anchor 21 (Fig. 2) engaging the wheel 20. In the shaft 18 is fixed a wire arm 22, and in the shaft 19 is fixed a wire hook 23 adapted to engage the free end of the arm 22. On the shaft 19 is fixedly mounted a locking pawl 24 (Figs. 1 and 5) having a lug bent outwards to project through an opening in the rear frame-plate and into the path of the arm 12.

The device for winding up the said auxiliary motor comprises an arm 25 (Figs. 3 and 4) fixedly mounted on the front end of the shaft 4 between the front frame-plate and the indicator 6, and a pawl 26 mounted at the free end of the arm 25 by means of a pivot 27. The pawl 26 is provided with a lug 28 and carries a pin 29.

On the square front end of the shaft 13 is mounted a clutch 60 (Figs. 3, 4 and 6), and on the cylindrical part of the shaft 13 located immediately behind the clutch 60 is mounted an arm 30. This arm is provided with two parallel slots 61, which are engaged by the rearwardly projecting ends of the clutch 60. In this manner the latter couples the arm 30 with the shaft 13.

The construction of the tilting device is as follows: On the rear end of the shaft 13 is fixedly mounted a disc 31 (Figs. 1, 2 and 6), and on the cylindrical part of the shaft 13 extending between the rear frame-plate and the gear 15 is loosely mounted a tilting lever 33 having two parallel bearing lugs 34 and a knee-shaped arm 35 extending inwards and downwards behind the said plate. Ihe free ends ofthe arms 32 and 35 carry pins 37 and 38 and are connected together by a helical spring 36 attached to these pins.

A further shaft 40' (Figs. 1, 2, 8 and 9) which is also journaled in the frame-plates has fixed in it a wire hook 41 extending upwards and inwards. The inwardly extending end of this hook is in the form of a flat spring and adapted to bear against the periphery of the balance-wheel 9. .In the shaft 40 is also fixed a wire arm 42 extending downwards and adapted to bear against the connecting bolt 2 located below the shaft 40. On the rear end of this shaft is fixedly mounted a lever 43 extending downwards into the path of the pin 38. The said bolt 2 also forms the fulcrum of an angular lever 44, 45.

The arm 44 of this lever extends upwards and has its end bent forwards, whilst the arm 45 is bent so that it projects rear-wards through the opening between the lower part of the rear frameplateand the switch-box 3 and that its pawlshaped end extends between the spring 36 and the arm 35 and is adapted to engage a pin 46 carried by this arm. A needle spring 62 (Figs. 8 and 9) fixed in the front frame-plate and resting by its free end on the arm 42 tends to keep the parts 41, 42 and 43 in the position illustrated in Fig. 2, and

a second needle spring 63 also fixed in the frontrocking shaft 4'7 carrying the contact-knives within the box and a slotted arm 48 on its rear end which projects outwards through an opening of the box.

Normally the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the springs 5 and 14 being not wound up, the time-movement stopped by the hook 41 bearing against the periphery of the balance-wheel 9, the indicator 6 in its initial position opposite the figure 60 on the dial a: which indicates also zero, the auxiliary motor run down, the tilting device locked and the switch opened. To close the switch for a determined short period of time, for example 30 minutes, the indicator 6 is turned by hand in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3, until it again reaches the figure 60. Thus, the shaft 4 will be caused to make a whole revolution in the saidd irectio'n, in which the spring 5 will be wound up, whilst the friction discs 8 will slide'on-the gear 7, which will be prevented from turning by the gear train 11 and the escapement 10 by reason of the balance-wheel 9 together with the escapementanchor being locked by the hook 41. In the beginning of the rotation of the shaft 4 the arm 12 will allow the pawl 24 together with the hook 23 to fall from the position shown in Fig. 1 into that shown in Fig. 2, so that the hook 23 will engage the free end of the wire arm 22 and thus lock the auxiliary motor. In the termination of the said revolution the rotation of the shaft 4 will be stopped in that the arm 12 will strike the lug 24a (Fig. 5) of the pawl 24 and this lug will strike the horizontal member of the rear frame-plate located immediately below the pawl as shown in Fig. 2. If the period of time, for which the switch is to be closed, is shorter than 66 minutes, the indicator 6 is then turned back to the corresponding figure on the dial :2:.

In the normal position (Fig. 3) the lug 28 of the pawl 26 bears against the right edge of the arm 25 and the pin 29 bears against the lower edge of the arm 30. Consequently in the first part (about a sixth) of the rotation of the shaft 4 in the direction of the arrow the arm 25 will transmit this rotation by the pawl 26 and the pin 29 to the arm 30, so that the latter will also be turned in the direction of the arrow and into the position shown in Fig. 4. In this rotation the arm 30 will train with it the shaft 13, whilst the pawl 5'7 will slide over the teeth of the ratchetwheel 56and the friction disc 16 will slide on the gear 15, which will be prevented from turning by the pinion 59, the wheel 20 and the anchor 21 by reason of the arm 22 together with the anchor 21 being locked by the hook 23. In the rotation of the shaft 13 the spring 14 of the auxiliarymotor will also be wound up. In the further rotation of the arm 25 the pin 29 will slide along and off from the edge of the arm 30.

Furthermore, the disc 31 rotating with the shaft 13 will by its left projection 39 train with it the arm 32 and the pin 37 into the position shown in Fig. 2, and the arm 32 will also move the spring 36 into this position, in which the movement of the parts 13, 30, 31, 32, 36 and 37 will be stopped in that a lug 64 of the disc 31 will strike the inner edge of the right vertical member of the rear frame-plate and the arm 32 will strike the right projection 39 of the disc 31. In the said position the spring 36 is at the right side of the shaft 13, which is the pivot of the parts 32 and 33, and therefore tends to move also the lever 33 with its arm 35 into the position shown in Fig. 2. But this movement is prevented by the lever 44, 45, which by the wire spring 63 resting on its arm 44 will be kept in the position shown in Fig. 1 and will by its pawl-shaped arm 45 engage the pin 46 of the arm 35 and thus lock the lever 33 in the position shown in Fig. 1.

To allow the said movement of this lever, the lever 44, 45 is now moved by hand so that its arm 45 will disengage the pin 46. Consequently the spring 36 will at once cause the lever 33 to suddenly tilt over into the position shown in Fig. 2, wherein the arm 35 will by its pin 38 throw down the arm 48 into this position and thus the switch will be closed. Simultaneously the pin 38 will allow the wire spring acting on the arm 42 to suddenly move the lever 43 and therewith also the wire hook 41 into the position shown in Fig. 2 wherein the flat elastic end of this hook will run off from the periphery of the balance-wheel 9, thus setting this wheel in motion and starting the time-movement.

The latter will now run down. The spring 5 and other parts of the time-movement are so proportioned and the running down of the same will be so regulated by the escapement-device 16 that it will be required for it the determined timeperiod according to the extent of winding up given the spring 5 in setting the indicator to the figure on the dial indicating this period. In the termination of the running down of the timemovement, in which the shaft 4 will rotate in the direction opposite to that of the arrow in Fig. 3, that is to say in the clock wise direction in Figs. 1 and 2, the arm .12 will strike the pawl 24 and lift the same together with the hook 23 from the position shown in Fig. 2 into that shown in Fig. 1, whereby the latter will disengage the free end of the wire arm 22 and thus release the auxiliary motor.

Consequently this motor will now also run down, wherein the shaft 13 together with the parts 30 and 31 will rotate in the direction 0pposite to that of the arrow in Fig. 3, that is to say in the counterclockwise direction in Figs. 1 and 2. In this rotation the disc 31 will by its right projection 39 train with it the arm 32 into the position shown in Fig. 1, and the arm 32 will also move the spring 36 into this position, in which the movement of the parts 13, 30, 31, 32-, 36 and 3'7 will be stopped in that the above said lug of the disc 31 will again (but at a lower point) strike the inner edge of the rear frame-plate and the arm 32 will strike the left projection 39 of the disc 31. As soon as in this movement the spring 36 will come to the left side of the shaft 13, it will cause the lever 33 to suddenly tilt back into the position shown in Fig. 1, wherein the arm 35 will by its pin 38 move back also the arm 48 into this position and'thus open the switch again. Simultaneously the pin 38 will move back the lever 43 and therewith also the wire hook 41 into the position shown in Fig. 1, wherein the fiat elastic end of this hook will again come to bear against the periphery of the balance-wheel 9, thus stopping this wheel and therewith also the time-movement. Furthermore the pawl-shaped arm 45 of the lever 44, 45 will again engage the pin 46 of the arm 35 and thus lock the tiltingdevice.

The movement of the lever 33 in the one or the other direction will be limited in that the one or the other end of the lower hook shaped arm of this lever will strike the connecting bolt 2 located immediately above this arm.

In the winding up rotation of the shaft 4 in the clockwise direction the arm 30 has been rotated in the counterclockwise direction by the pin 29 1 far enough for this pin to clear said arm, to wit somewhat beyond the position shown in Fig. 4; but after the pin 29 has left the arm 30 the latter has been turned back by the spring 14 into this position and has been locked therein together with the shaft 13, the gear 15 and the pallet-wheel 20 by the anchor 21, the arm 30 being in this position in the path of, the pin 29, in the running down rotation of the shaft 4 in the counterclockwise direction this pin will strike the right edge of the arm 30, and consequently this arm will cause the pawl 26 to tilt over into the same position. and thus allow the further rotation of the shaft 4 together with the arm 25 into the position shown in Fig. 3. In the running down rotation of the shaft 13 in the direction opposite to that of the arrow the arm 30 will then again strike'the pin 29 and move back the pawl 26 into the same position.

The modification shown in Fig. 5 is distinct from that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 only in that the turning of the spring shaft 13 of the auxiliary motor in winding up and in running down is transmitted by a gear 49 fixedly mounted on the rear end of said shaft to a gear-segment 50 mounted on a shaft 51, and that the single-armed tilting lever 52 is loosely mounted on the same shaft 51 and connected to the segment 50 by the spring 53 attached to pins 54 and 55 carried by the segment 50 and the free end of the lever 52 respectively. The spring 53 will cause the tilting lever 52 to tilt to the right or to the left respectively as soon as it will be carried by the segment 50 to the same side of the shaft 51.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a mechanism of the clas described, the combination of a time-movement driven by a spiral spring, an auxiliary motor driven by a second spiral spring, a shaft carrying said second spiral spring, means for winding up said spiral springs by hand, a tilting device operated by said auxiliary motor for moving an organ to be operated by the mechanism, means for automatically starting and stopping said time-movement in the movement of said tilting device, means operated by said time-movement to lock said auxiliary motor when the winding up of said time-movement terminates and to release said motor when the running down of said time-movement terminates, and a common supporting frame for said timemovement, said auxiliary motor and said tilting device.

2. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a time-movement driven by a spiral spring, an auxiliary motor driven by a second spiral spring, a shaft carrying said second spring, a device for winding up said second spring in winding up the first spring by hand, a tilting device actuated by said auxiliary motor for moving an organ to be operated by the mechanism, means for automatically starting and. stopping said timemovement in the movement of said tilting device, means operated by said time-movement to lock said auxiliary motor when the winding up of said time-movement terminates and to release said motor when the running down of said time-movement terminates, and a common supporting frame for said time-movement, said auxiliary motor and said tilting device, the latter comprising a disc fixedly mounted on said shaft, an arm loosely mounted on said shaft and adapted to be trained with said disc, a tilting lever also loosely mounted on said shaft, and a helical spring connecting said arm and said lever together.

3. In a mechanism of the class described, the combination of a time-movement driven by a spiral spring, a shaft carrying said spring, an auxiliary motor driven by a second spiral spring, a second shaft carrying said second spring, a device for winding up said second spring in winding up the first spring by hand, a tilting device actuated by said auxiliary motor for moving an organ to be operated by the mechanism, means for automatically starting and stopping said time-movement in the movement of said tilting device, means operated by said time-movement to lock said auxiliary motor when the winding up of said timemovement terminates and to release said motor when the running down of said time-movement terminates, and a common supporting frame for said time-movement, said auxiliary motor and said tilting device, said winding-up device comprising an arm fixedly mounted on the firstsaid shaft, a pawl pivotally mounted on said arm, provided with a lug adapted to bear against the said arm and carrying a pin, and a second arm fixedly 'pawl in turning the first said shaft.

WALTER SELLIN. 

